brian

jake

Also, submitted without opinion. Victor Hanson on War (National Review). It's hard to judge the author's stance. It could be "these actions may not have been the best, but let's do our best given the situation, not expect quick results, and we'll measure our effectiveness by the lack of gratitude." It can also be described as "When we act, we're blamed. When we stay out of it, we're blamed. It's always our fault, and that's the burden 'number one' shoulders perpetually." A lot of interesting thoughts, and no apologies, in this piece.

...we must not necessarily confuse the activities of the Taliban, the Baathists, Hezbollah, and other Dark-Age cadres with the majority wishes of the Arab people... If given ample respect and consideration, they will confess that their own theocracies and autocracies, not Western colonialists, are culpable for failing to provide the security and prosperity necessary to accommodate their exploding populations...

The angry and ignorant will always be misled by mad clerics and uniformed thugs if they offer easy solutions without costs, specifically that the easily blamed Jews and Americans, and not their own incompetence and venality, are the real sources of their catastrophe...

The key is to allow the Middle East choices — isolation from the West, or peaceful coalition and interaction under their own auspices, or military defeat and subsequent regime change should their terrorists and leaders seek to threaten, attack, or kill Americans.